The following comes from Goldstandardelections.com and is republished at JoeHoft.com
The people have lost faith in our elections. We must urgently restructure the entire election process to restore public confidence.
Americans don’t trust that their votes are counted accurately. Counting that goes on for a month, ballots with no chain of custody, and ballot harvesting are just a few of the concerns.
Many people still skeptical of voter fraud were convinced when they saw that Kamala Harris had 20 million fewer voters than Joe Biden in 2024.
Since the HAVA Act of 2002, which subsidized electronic voting, our election infrastructure has become more complex and vulnerable.
Furthermore, many of the tasks and responsibilities of the election process were outsourced to third parties.
We, the People, lost control of our elections, which became centralized and controlled by corporations, contractors, and the federal and state governments.
The only way to ensure every vote is counted accurately and transparently is to implement a paper ballot system with secure, hand-marked ballots publicly counted locally. The government’s role is to aid us in administering OUR elections.
The solution is the “Gold Standard” – a comprehensive, nationwide blueprint for revamping elections with one day of voting, hand-marked paper ballots, and public observation of the counting process.
This solution, outlined in this policy paper, Gold Standard Elections, was constructed with feedback from multiple states and countless hours of testing.
The goal of the Gold Standard is simple. Optimize four cornerstones for trustworthy elections-accessibility, security, transparency, and verifiability.
Make elections more accessible to qualified voters, secure the physical ballots and other components of the election system, enhance transparency of the entire process (while ensuring that votes are cast in secret), and allow citizens to verify results.
Our whitepaper steps through all four phases of the election process while providing specific recommendations for optimizing the cornerstones for each phase.
They are summarized below:
Recommendations to achieve the “Gold Standard”
Phase 1: Voter Registration
In-person registration with valid ID and proof of citizenship at least every 4 years (affidavit and confirmation of legitimate domicile).
Paper “library card” system of voter rolls sorted by precinct at the county with redundant read-only computer copy.
Separate database for active and inactive/archived voters.
Voter rolls are free of charge and downloadable online.
Phase 2: Voter Validation
Ongoing validation of rolls; if the voter is activated after inactive status, they must re-register.
Paper Poll Books confirm accuracy against the paper card system and freeze 30 days before an election—no new registrations beyond this point.
Voters must have a valid current ID at the time of voting.
Periodic checks of voter qualifications and status to ensure accuracy.
Phase 3: Marking and Counting of Ballots
One day of voting, designated as a state/federal holiday (early voting is discouraged).
Hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots.
Ballots must include security features and procedures.
Secure transfer of ballots with detailed logs.
Increase poll workers to ensure timely counting (before midnight).
Count where cast at precincts, which should be small (<1,500 electors); penalties for violations.
Ballots sequentially numbered but randomly selected (pick a card).
Counting must be observable by the public and live-streamed and/or recorded if possible.
Strong Chain of Custody (COC) measures:
Public access to COC documentation.
Published procedures for COC; election workers must be trained.
Absentee balloting:
Minimal absentee ballots, sorted and counted at their precinct (secure transfer from county).
Do not open absentee ballots until counting commences.
Sequential numbering is used to track and reconcile before count.
Disability provisions: ADA compliance and curbside voting.
Phase 4: Election Night Results Reporting
Tally results are provided on summary total sheets, which are then sealed, reported to the county and state, and posted on the precinct door.
Ballot counting is open to the public and can be recorded with a cellphone camera mounted over the ballots and tally sheets.
Vote results shall be provided to all citizens within 24 hours of the count, preferably posted on county websites.
All election records should be free of charge to citizens.
The solution is simple, elegant, and inexpensive. It primarily requires people, paper, and pens.
Legislators and election officials complain that they cannot find people to work the polls and will take too much time to count. They worry about human error. These concerns are unfounded.
Our studies show that a team of four people, a bipartisan team of two talliers and two callers, can count 100 ballots with 11 races in an hour. If precinct size is kept to 1,500 in a busy election with a 75-70% turnout (around 1,000 ballots), three teams could fully count 1,000 ballots in roughly three and ½ hours, including breaks.
This new paradigm is entirely doable, and people in the community will be enthused about the opportunity to engage in this process.
With the cost savings from eliminating the expense of purchasing, storing, and maintaining the machines, you could pay election workers an amount that would be desirable.
After two or three rounds of counting, poll workers rarely have to recount, and errors are rare due to the reconciliation process.
As a reminder, counties use hand-count audits to confirm machine counts, so hand-counting is already viewed as the arbiter of accuracy.
Since the times, places, and manner of holding elections are prescribed by each state per the US Constitution, the state legislatures must respond to the people’s call for reform. These laws must be in place before our next election of 2028.
Both parties will cry foul should the results not be in their interest. Equipment manufacturers and third-party contractors have much to lose. These companies are closely held private ventures that do not provide disclosure.
Most current technology is made overseas, leaving our systems vulnerable to potential bad actors through hidden backdoor hacks or other malfeasance.
Our own federal and state infrastructure is unreliable in its ability to verify citizenship and authenticity of voter registrations. There are far too many attack vectors.
There are far too many reasons for voters to doubt the authenticity of our vote. We must stop this discussion once and for all by adopting the Gold Standard Election System.
Will our state elected officials respect the people’s will and adopt these law changes, or will they continue to make excuses for a system that lacks credibility, transparency, and trustworthiness?
It is a tricky answer when this system is most likely responsible for their longevity. Our Congress and State houses should not be residences for decades-long careers but rather places where concerned citizens serve their constituents for a few terms and graciously cede their position to the next round of willing civil servants.
The people no longer trust our political system. The remedy for this distrust starts with the reformation of our election system. Bottom-up pressure from concerned voters and top-down pressure from President Trump’s new administration is key to making this happen. Let’s do this.
The post A Crisis of Confidence: We Must Overhaul Elections for the People appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.